The Future of Healthcare

Will telemedicine be the key to the future of healthcare? In order to find answers to this question, we sat down with doctors, including our very own Chief Medical Officer, Dr Faiza Hashmi MD and fellows from various hospitals to gather more information about how telemedicine can help physicians provide the best care for their patients' needs. 

The existing shortage of critical care doctors, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, highlights the value telemedicine holds for the future. Implementing options like telemedicine and tele-ICU in hospitals and healthcare practices allows physicians to see more patients than they otherwise could, therefore extending patient coverage and allowing them to continue receiving the attention they need.

Value of Telemedicine: 

• Telemedicine facilitates the expansion of healthcare without impacting its quality, as new innovations will help providers diagnose and treat conditions virtually. It allows healthcare to expand in rural areas where clinics and hospitals are not as prominent. 
• Conducting healthcare online results in more schedule flexibility and overall efficiency, helping to relieve some of the provider’s workload.
• Healthcare providers can consistently monitor patients, potentially contributing to shorter stays and more comprehensive care.
• Online appointments reduce the potential for spreading contagious diseases to hospital’s visitors and staff.

Barriers to Implementation:

• Platforms for telemedicine must be simple and easy to use both for patients and for providers. 
• Before telemedicine can be universally adopted, patients and providers will need to be educated on how to use the technology in order to avoid barriers of the unknown.
• Telemedicine must be more available and more affordable across different areas of the country and throughout many hospitals. Currently, not everyone has access to cameras or laptops and therefore are unable to participate in telemedicine video appointments with their physicians.
• Telemedicine may affect patient/provider relationships because some patients and providers alike feel they lack connection with the other without face-to-face appointments. While mild issues are easy to handle during an over-the-phone appointment, the more serious cases are harder to differentiate and diagnose without seeing the patient in person.
• Ability for physicians to diagnose symptoms are limited when relying on patients to provide vitals.

Moving forward, telemedicine platforms need to provide tutorials and training tools to educate providers, assistants and patients as they become more widely used in healthcare practices. As more user friendly interfaces are developed, people will be able to adapt quickly to the implementation of virtual care. ezClinic provides a solution to these challenges through its easy-to-use, accessible technology platform. With ezClinic, patients can schedule appointments with their providers no matter where they are. And when physicians use platforms like ezClinic that can connect to their patients devices like MedWand.com, vitals can be accurately provided in real time during the call.  This will allow patients to have the confidence that they will receive the same quality care as they would in the office.